Tesla granted patent on metal-air battery charging

2012 Tesla Model S beta vehicle, Fremont, CA, October 2011When it comes to Tesla and electric-car batteries, the eyes of most analysts are currently on the automaker's "Gigafactory," which began battery-cell production earlier this year. The Gigafactory is expected to build cells in massive numbers, but using a variation of the same lithium-ion chemistry that currently dominates in the electric-car...

U.S. household energy costs hit 50-year low

Photovoltaic solar panels on roof of Honda Smart Home at UC-Davis, CaliforniaSubstantial growth in U.S. renewable-energy capacity will undoubtedly have a positive environmental impact. But the reduction in carbon emissions renewable-energy advocates aim to achieve does not exclude potential benefits to consumers. Because as renewable-energy generating capacity has expanded significantly over the last decade, household...

Wind energy capacity in Europe now exceeds total coal output

wind farmWhile homeowners are more familiar with photovoltaic solar panels, large-scale wind power is an increasingly important part of the growth in renewable energy. For the first time, the total installed capacity of wind energy in Europe now exceeds the total output of electric powerplants fueled with coal. And that imbalance is likely to grow as more...

GM’s Maven car-sharing adds Chevy Bolt EV electric cars (in LA)

2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV electric car in Maven car-sharing fleet, Los Angeles [photo: Dan MacMedan foWith the 238-mile Chevy Bolt EV electric car now in its third month of sales and rolling out to additional states every month, the industry is focused on its sales numbers. Retail buyers have asked to what degree GM's plans to dedicate a number of the early Bolt EVs to its Maven car-sharing service might affect availability. If yesterday's...

2018 Lexus LS 500h hybrid luxury sedan to debut at Geneva show

2018 Lexus LS 500hIt should come as no surprise that Toyota's Lexus luxury brand remains enthusiastic about hybrids. Toyota has sold more hybrids than any other automaker, with luxury models sold under the Lexus brand contributing to a total that just exceeded 10 million. That trend will continue with the 2018 Lexus LS 500h, a hybrid version of the brand's flagship...

Tesla now tells electric cars about charger status en route

Tesla Supercharger site in Newburgh, New York, up and running - June 2015Unlike most automakers, Tesla doesn't schedule redesigns, updates, and new features for its cars to coincide with traditional model years. Aided by the fact that most of its new features are software-related, Tesla takes a more flexible approach. Many new features are pushed to its electric cars whenever they're ready, in the form of over-the-air...

Auto industry split over halting, changing fuel-economy rules

The White House, Washington, D.C.  [Creative Commons license by dcjohn]Just days after the presidential election, automaker lobbyists urged Donald Trump to loosen pending emissions and fuel-economy standards. Shortly after the election, a lobbying group wrote Trump asking him to change or delay an EPA decision that kept planned emissions standards for 2022 to 2025 in place. Last week, executives of 18 automakers sent...